


Earth Under Your Feet

by ryanglitter



Category: The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:33:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,913
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24106777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryanglitter/pseuds/ryanglitter
Summary: SkekSo summons skekMal to his chamber yet again for the umpteenth time this unum. What's the true thing that skekMal has that skekSo really craves? Can skekSo have little a outdoors experience? As a treat?For skekMal, who is full of fantastic ideas and was kind enough to write some incredibly lovely Ekt/Ayuk for me, and inspired me to write So/Mal for the first time. I have written about So before, unpublished, but not Mal, and certainly not the two of them together.Also this is undeniably inspired by the writing of Chaifootsteps, who is so amazing at exploring the depth and nuance of skekMal's character. I'm referencing his work "The Voluptuary Vacation", where there is a mention of skekLach and skekOk having a bit of private fun at the seaside~♥♥♥
Relationships: skekMal/skekSo (Dark Crystal)
Comments: 27
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [skekMal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/skekMal/gifts).



> Thank you for reading!

SkekSo couldn’t sleep. Again. And so he summoned the Hunter. Again. 

This time he wasn’t even sure why. Could it be that he had called him to his bedchamber much too often as of recently, and he had gotten accustomed to his visits? Now that was a thought fit for a nightmare! No time for that now though; he was still awake, sitting on the edge of his bed as he waited, his sleeping robes still on, spread out around him like dark, dangerous waves.

He straightened his back and rolled his shoulders, stretched one pair of arms, then the other. They never did seem to crack so loudly during the day. 

By this hour every Skeksis in the Castle was in their bed, or in the bed of another Skeksis, which was all fine and good. Whatever made them happy. Whatever kept them from thinking too hard about matters that were beyond the scope of their respective vocations. 

They were all luckier than they knew, and those who envied his position were utter fools. The only reason why they had such ample time to indulge in their passions, and still have plenty of moments to spare, was his continued effort to keep the ball rolling in the right direction. Adding the last word to a book, the last stitch to a curtain, the last pinch of salt to a dish, the joy of seeing one’s completed work and taking a break before starting on something new: this was a luxury that skekSo did not have. He was at work as soon as he arose and he was at work till his last waking moment. It occurred to him that the same could actually be said of the Chamberlain… and yet he was more than reluctant to summon him instead. In all honesty, he always was. But before he could put into words exactly why…

“Ah, skekMal. Welcome back.”

There he was, perched upon the railing of his balcony, waiting for skekSo to finish his thoughts and notice his presence. He stepped inside with ease, the same way he always did, and crouched in front of him, peering through the empty sockets of his mask, silently wondering how he could be of service this time. Quite uncharacteristically, skekSo said the first thing that crossed his mind – and as soon as he did, he decided to pretend that he had planned it in advance.

“Tell me something, Hunter. Something… true.” 

SkekMal blinked and tilted his head, his eyes moving from corner to corner of the imperial bedchamber, as if seeking an answer among the cracks in the walls. The Emperor watched him closely, he watched him adjust to the new mission he was given. SkekMal was good at thinking on his feet – not unlike himself, for that matter. The Emperor put his ankle on his knee as nonchalantly as he could as he watched the Hunter think, but as he did so his bones cracked yet again, and inadvertently he gave him an idea of what to say.

“You sit too much.”

SkekSo fought the urge to scoff and he nodded slowly, deliberately, urging him to go on.

“You sit on your throne till your tail goes numb, and you’re not tired enough to fall asleep.”

That was … true indeed, skekSo had to admit. Surely the Hunter understood why, did he not, even better than any of the others? 

“You sit so the others can move.” 

Aah. There it is indeed.

“But you need a break too, Emperor. You need to stretch your legs. You need earth under your feet.”

SkekMal eyed him silently, indicating that he was done. Wait… done? That was it? Who did the Hunter think he was? The Scroll-Keeper, who had just returned from his three-day seaside retreat? Or the Collector, who had accompanied the Scroll-Keeper to collect seashells, if anyone could believe that? Did skekMal think he had time for anything of the sort? … No. Of course not. He was too clever for that. It had to be something else, something beyond skekSo’s most immediate presumptions. He was in no mood for guessing games though.

“What do you suggest, Hunter?”

“You cannot leave during the day, of course, not if you don’t want someone else to take your seat. It has to be at night. How about now? I could show you a path. Not too far. I could escort you back to the castle soon enough for you to get some rest.”

SkekSo pondered, rubbing the jewels on his scepter with his thumb, and then he realized. The longer he took to think, the more time he would waste if indeed he chose to go along with the Hunter’s plan. And truth be told, he knew that he would accept anything that skekMal suggested, even before he decided to leave the matter of how they would spend their evening up to him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SkekSo thinks too much and that's why he can't have nice things, like for instance a perfectly normal walk in the forest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of a trade with skekMal who is awesome and amazing!!!!!

_And so we meet again, Thra_ , skekSo almost wished to say. 

He could not even remember when he last stepped outside of the Castle of the Crystal and set foot on naked ground. 

Cold and harsh under his feet it was, treacherous and rough. Little rocks everywhere, lying around wherever they please. All around him, insects and birds he could not name were singing their brief little lives away. The Three Sisters were all there to witness his brief walk among the trees. He had heard that some Gelfling thought they could see faces on their visible surfaces, and right now, all that skekSo could see were vicious smiles. They were mocking him, and yet he had no choice but to be grateful for their light. His sense of smell had all but faded long ago, and his hearing was out of practice, but his vision was sharp enough to follow the Hunter’s safe, solid shape, a little in front of him, a little towards the right. 

Truly, if it had been almost anyone else, skekSo would have feared for his life. And yet he did not. The Hunter was probably the last Skeksis he believed had any sort of ambition to overthrow him. For one thing, he did not even wish to live among them. And skekSo tolerated this. It was in the very nature of skekMal’s identity, that much even he could not deny. He had always encouraged every Skeksis to push their talents to the extreme, to indulge to their hearts’ content, to live and breathe their craft. Why then would he stop at skekMal?

SkekMal. What was on his mind right now? Was he mocking him perhaps just like the Sisters? Was he secretly laughing at his Emperor’s doomed attempt to pretend that he was perfectly comfortable down there in the woods? Was skekMal thinking that, between the two of them, he, who was more than prepared for anything they might come across… was the real Emperor of Thra? 

And then skekSo tripped. 

SkekMal quickly turned around to catch him, and skekSo grabbed his arm, digging his claws into it without thinking. As soon as he was back on his feet, however, he pulled his hand back and clutched his scepter to his heart with both hands, and pretended that the soft chuckle he heard was just the wind among the leaves.

*

The first drop was a nightmare. The second drop was reality, which was even worse. 

SkekMal kept walking, and all things be damned, skekSo would too. He was Emperor after all, and a little rain couldn’t stop him from getting reacquainted with Thra, and feeling it under his feet, where it belonged.

Soon, though, the rain began to intensify, and although the sky was fully covered with clouds, hiding the Sisters from view, skekSo could still feel their mirth at his misfortune. Why did he have to listen to skekMal? Why did he always let him get away with everything? With living apart from his kind, who only had each other and always would – apart from his Emperor? Making him crave his company? Toying with his… patience, for lack of a better word? 

Speaking of words, skekMal had remained silent ever since skekSo followed him outside, sneaking out from his own home like a thief, escaping from his cage like one of the Scientist’s little friends. It was his choice, skekSo told himself sometimes, when the dark hours were long and he knew sleep would bring no comfort. He had made his bed and he would lie in it, if all went well, for the rest of eternity. He had chosen sacrifice, he had chosen responsibility, and if anyone had the audacity to try to take that away from him, even after all these trine, he would punish them with his own hands.

The only way the Emperor could bear the burden of leadership was with pride, and with pride he followed his silent guide now. No, skekMal could never wish himself in his place. He needed no throne, no scepter, no luxurious bed, no imperial subjects who would do all the work for him. He wasn’t even in any hurry to be recognized by lesser beings as a Lord of the Crystal, even if it meant denying himself their worship. So absurd it would have seemed were he anyone else, so laughably modest, so much like those he did not wish to name, but he was skekMal, the Hunter, and it suited him perfectly. 

The earth was getting muddy under skekSo’s bare feet, and rain flowed freely over his face, between his lashes, seeping under his artificial beak. His thin sleeping robes were all but soaked, sticking to his body like a second skin. His tail was trembling, and his secondary arms were freezing, small hands holding tightly to each other. Soon his legs began to ache, and his lungs hungered for air. SkekMal marched on, leading him Thra knew where, and skekSo hoped with everything he had that he would not be offered a hand to swat away. 

“There is a cave not far from here”, skekMal finally spoke. 

“Very well”, skekSo said, as if he had a choice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let’s go outside, he said. It'll be fun, he said.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SkekSo confesses a thing!

SkekSo was finally safe. 

It mattered not that nowhere was comfortable in that cave for his old bones to sit and rest. At least there was no more incessant pounding on top of his bare head. He couldn’t understand for the life of him why anyone would call the sound of rain ‘calming’ – it was downright grating to him, an endless backdrop of impatient little whispers begging for his attention: “Sire! Sire! Sire!” the raindrops seemed to say. Half of him wished to hiss back at them. The other half was still entertaining the illusion that if he did not complain, skekMal would somehow fail to notice just how completely out of shape he was. 

SkekSo put his scepter down and tried to warm his front hands in front of the fire that skekMal had made; he found that as soon as he managed to rub a bit of heat into his hands, the rest of his body began to feel even colder than before. Meanwhile, skekMal was anything but idle: skekSo watched as he tied a rope to the cave’s teeth and began to hang all their clothes up to dry, then arranged his weapons and treasures on the ground, after which he started busying himself with some sort of brew. Where had he learned how to do that? Certainly not from skekAyuk, or skekSo would have known. From Gelfling perhaps? Surely not from Podlings? Did he even really wish to know the answer?

“Careful, it’s hot”, skekMal interrupted his thoughts, offering him a bowl.

The tea’s scent was strong enough that even skekSo could smell it: fresh, herbal, soothing. The first sip warmed his mouth and sent a wave of heat all throughout his body. He sipped some more. The rock was cool underneath him, the fire was dancing, and skekMal… oh, but he was exquisite to look at: so powerful and agile he was, with such ease and precision he moved no matter what he did, his eyes ever vigilant and his mind clearly anchored in the now. 

“All warmed up?” skekMal asked.

“Quite so.” His smaller hands kept rubbing each other in secret, and his tail was trembling. “I suppose I ought to thank you, skekMal”, he mocked.

“If you wish, Emperor.”

“You knew that it would begin to rain.” SkekMal had no answer, so he continued. “Given your ample knowledge of the weather of Thra, do you also happen to know how long the rain will last?”

“Hard to say. Might stop before our robes get dry. Might take all night.”

SkekMal sat across from him, the fire crackling brightly between them. For some reason, skekSo focused on his mask. They had both stripped completely, and yet he had chosen to keep it on. In theory, SkekSo had the authority to order him to remove it, and yet he was acutely aware that he couldn’t, no more than he could command skekMal to move into the Castle and eat with a proper fork and knife. No, skekMal was just like the weather: one could not hope to control him, merely to celebrate him as he was. 

“If you wish”, skekMal said, “I could find a different path with thicker trees and drier ground.”

“No! No. We shall return the way we came.”

“You enjoyed it then, Emperor?”

SkekSo huffed, but he couldn’t resist granting him a subtle smile. Was there any point in playing the old charade of threatening skekMal with a punishment they both knew would never come? He pondered, longer than usual, and he found that he was thankful for the patience in the Hunter’s gaze, which was a rare thing for anyone else to behold.

“That should be obvious, Hun--”, was all he managed to say before he sneezed; he wrapped his tail around himself without thinking, and then he saw that skekMal’s eyes had followed its movement.

“Still cold? Let me keep you warm?”

SkekSo tilted his head at him, but he had to admit, the last thing he wished was to risk getting a cold on top of his nightmares and various pains, and having to go around the Castle starting next day with handkerchiefs sticking out of every pocket just like the Collector. As for skekMal, it only made sense that he would attempt to make up for what he had put his Emperor through. Those were, he tried to tell himself, the sole reasons why he accepted skekMal’s offer, with a deep nod, as dignified as he could make it look in his current state, naked and trembling and away from home. 

SkekMal got up and sat behind him, covering his back with his body, trapping his smaller arms against his chest. SkekSo closed his eyes and leaned into the embrace, allowing skekMal to run his hands up and down his arms, his shoulders, wherever he could reach, effectively warming up his tired body. Eventually skekMal removed his mask and placed his head where skekSo’s shoulder met his neck, his breath sending shivers down his spine to where his tail began. 

“Your skin is always cold”, skekMal said, and skekSo opened his eyes.

“It seems cold to you because you are always that much warmer.”

Thankfully, skekMal did not continue the conversation, but skekSo could feel him on his neck, lifting a doubtful brow. How much skekMal could guess about his worsening health skekSo did not know, but at least he was certain enough that he could count on him to keep any further questions to himself. 

They sat like that for a while, sharing warmth, saying nothing, until skekMal suddenly lifted his head.

“The rain stopped”, he said.

“Ah. Yes.” SkekSo hoped that skekMal could not hear the disappointment in his voice. “I doubt that our robes have had enough time to dry, however. We shall stay here until they are ready to wear.”

SkekMal wrapped his arms around him tighter, one hand stopping over his heart, and skekSo was glad that there was nothing in sight in which his face could be reflected and his emotions betrayed. And yet, he still decided to say something. Something… true. 

“SkekMal. I am indeed… thankful… for tonight.”

“At your service, Emperor.”

“It made me feel…” skekSo gazed at the fire for a moment. “You made me feel… alive.”

The word certainly did put up a fight – it seemed to refuse to leave his throat, and even when he finally forced it out, it still left some pain behind, some kind of frustrating pressure on the roof of his mouth.

“Anything else I can do, Emperor?” skekMal asked.

SkekSo chuckled. 

“Perhaps.”

*

When skekSo awoke and remembered, he did have to wonder if it had all been but a dream. Fortunately, it was clearly not so. For one thing, no dream of his could have possibly had such a pleasant ending. Secondly, he was nude, and his sleeping robe was on the floor, a shapeless black pile, and his scepter on top of it. Thirdly, there was the matter of the lingering taste of tea on his tongue. The one thing he could not recall, however, was just how he had gotten back to the Castle. Could it be that he had fallen asleep in the cave, and skekMal had … carried him back to his chamber? SkekSo tried to picture it in his mind and he allowed himself a smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! This is my first multi-chapter fic that I ever published anywhere. Skeksis are so inspiring ♥


End file.
